Naval
War
in Outline
Japanese
Navy ship names
Warship numbers & losses,
1914-18
Losses by year
Key to main
characteristics including Japanese torpedo and
gun calibres
Main ship types - Dreadnoughts to Submarines

NAVAL
WAR IN OUTLINE

Britain,
by signing a mutual defence treaty with Japan in
1902
gave Japan main responsibility for Far Eastern
waters. Japan then declared war on the 23rd August
1914, partly with the aim of capturing the German
base of Tsingtao on mainland China and occupying
the
German Marshall and Caroline Island groups in the
Western Pacific. Tsingtao was besieged and
taken on the
7th November 1914 by a largely Japanese naval and
land force with a token Western Allied presence.

By then, the German
island groups had
been occupied by ships of the First Fleet.
Japanese
warships of the Third Fleet also helped escort
ANZAC
troopships across the Indian Ocean and others took
part in the hunt for German light cruiser 'Emden'
in
the East Indies and Indian Ocean, and for Adm von
Spee’s East Asiatic Squadron in the Pacific
Ocean - the latter leading to the Battle of
Coronel
and ending with the Battle of the Falklands. Until
1917, the Navy stayed in the Far East, for example
helping British forces to put down a mutiny in
Singapore in February 1915. Then from April 1917,
an
eventual total of 14 destroyers with cruiser
flagships were based at Malta playing an
important and efficient part in anti-submarine
convoy
escort.

Most Japanese wartime
losses apart from the Tsingtau operation, were due
to
accidents, but in the Mediterranean, one destroyer
was torpedoed and badly damaged.

After the war, Japan
joined the Allies in Far East operations against
the
Bolsheviks.

*
Approximate only, as completion and
commissioning
dates are not always available

LOSSES
BY YEAR - (In date order within each year)

Year -
Ships
lost (all in Far East Asia
waters)

1914 -
destroyer 'Shirotaye', protected cruiser
'Takachio'

1915 -

1916 -
protected cruiser 'Kasagi'

1917 -
2nd
class battlecruiser 'Tsukuba', protected
cruiser
'Otowa'

1918 -
dreadnought 'Kawachi'

Key to
Main Characteristics:

Tonnage
- standard displacement; Speed -
designed speed at standard displacement, rarely
attained in service; Main
armament - sometimes changed as the war
progressed; secondary armament usually changed; Complement
- normal peace time.
Exceeded in war with consequent reduction in
living
space and higher battle casualties; Year -
year or years class
completed and normally entered service. Only
includes
ships completed up to war's end; Loss
Positions
- estimated from location unless available from
reliable sources; Casualties -
totals of men lost, or survivors plus saved, will
often exceed peacetime complements.

Haruna,
according to two sources, was
damaged in the South Pacific on a mine laid by
German
raider 'Wolf'. Mines were laid by the raider in
mid-1917 off New Zealand, the east coast of
Australia, and Singapore, but this incident
needs
confirmation

Tsukuba,
battlecruiser 'Kurama' and armoured cruiser
'Asama'
of First South Sea Squadron searched the
Carolines,
Marshalls and Western Pacific north of the
equator
for Adm von Spee’s Fleet, September - November
1914. After the Anglo-German Battle of Coronel,
she
prepared to move to the South Central Pacific
where
sister ship 'Ikoma' was to join the Squadron

TSUKUBA (ancient
province in Tokyo
area), 14th January 1917, Japan off Yokosuka in
Tokyo Bay (c 35-00’N, 139-30’E)
- magazine
explosion. The
fore magazine exploded killing 200 men and
setting
'Tsukuba' on fire as she was at anchor in the
Bay.
She sank 20 minutes later in shallow waters
close
inshore with masts, bridge and funnels above
water,
the explosion due to propellant decomposition.
Fortunately half of the crew was on shore leave,
but
casualties still included 305 men lost.
'Tsukuba' was
later raised and broken up.

Ibuki joined
the hunt for 'Emden' in the East Indies in
September
1914, in October took part in the escort of New
Zealand troops to Australia, and early next
month,
because of the shortage of British ships helped
escort the combined ANZAC convoy across the
Indian
Ocean. After 'Sydney' had been detached and sank
'Emden', the 'Ibuki' was for a while the only
protection for the ANZACs. She later joined the
Second South Sea Squadron in the SW Pacific to
hunt
for von Spee

Kurama,
battlecruiser 'Tsukuba' and armoured cruiser
'Asama'
of First South Sea Squadron searched the
Carolines,
Marshalls and Western Pacific north of the
equator
for Adm von Spee’s Fleet, September - November
1914, and after the Battle of Coronel, prepared
to
move to the South Central Pacific

Satsuma with
light cruisers 'Hirado' and 'Yahagi' sailed as
the
Second South Sea Squadron to search the
Philippines,
Palau Islands and East Indies area,
October-November
1914 in the von Spee hunt, and after Coronel
moved
towards the South Central Pacific.

Hizen
(12,700t,
30.5cm guns) joined armoured cruiser 'Idzumo' in
1914
in North American waters on trade protection,
and
after the Battle of Coronel moved down the the
west
coast of the Americas in the hunt for von Spee.

Asama, with
battlecruisers 'Kurama' and 'Tsukuba' of First
South
Sea Squadron searched the Carolines, Marshalls
and
Western Pacific north of the equator for Adm von
Spee’s Fleet, September - November 1914, and
after the Battle of Coronel, prepared to move to
Chilean waters

Tokiwa and
armoured cruiser 'Yakumo' were at Singapore when
'Emden' was sunk in early November 1914,
preparing to
form a Japanese squadron to work in the Bay of
Bengal

Idzumo moved
from Mexican to North American waters after the
declaration of war to protect Allied trade,
later
heading for South American waters to play her
part in
the hunt for von Spee. In August 1917 she
arrived in
the Mediterranean to relieve protected cruiser
'Akashi' as flagship of the destroyer flotillas
based
at Malta on convoy protection duties

Iwate joined
First South Sea Squadron in the South Central
Pacific
to hunt for von Spee

15.
YAKUMO - 9,600t, 20 knots,
4-20.3cm/12-15.2cm, 700
crew, 1900

Yakumo and
armoured cruiser 'Tokiwa' were at Singapore when
'Emden' was sunk, preparing to form a Japanese
squadron to work in the Bay of Bengal

Nisshin prepared
to
join the Second South Sea Squadron based at Truk
in the search for von Spee

PROTECTED
CRUISERS

August
1914 Strength (15)

18.
TAKACHIHO - 3,600t, 18 knots, 6 or 8-15cm,
325 crew,
1886

Takachiho was
part of the large Japanese fleet engaged in the
capture of the German base of Tsingtau in
northern
China. Directly engaged in the attack were three
old
battleships, two coast defence ships, three
armoured
cruisers, a seaplane carrier and destroyer
flotilla
with its light cruiser leader. Patrolling the
Yellow
Sea was a dreadnought, two battleships, four
light
cruisers and a destroyer flotilla, and further
south
still another light cruiser and six gunboats

TAKACHIHO (also
'Takaschio', sacred place
in Japan), 17th October 1914, NE China, off
Tsingtau in the Yellow Sea (c 36-00’N, 120-30’E)
- torpedoed by German torpedo boat 'S-90'.
Employed as a minelayer, the
'Takachiho' was attacked by the 'S-90' which
managed
to slip out of Kiaochow (Kiao Chau) Bay on the
night
of the 17th/18th as the siege approached its
end; 271
men were lost as she went down. Some sources
locate
her loss in Kiaochow Bay, others further
offshore in
the Yellow Sea. 'S-90' was run aground SE of
Tsingtao
later the same day and scuttled. (One source
describes 'Takachiho' as on patrol when she was
mined
on the 19th with the loss of 243 men.)

Akashi arrived
in Malta in mid-April 1917 as flagship of eight
destroyers of 10th and 11th Flotillas, sent at
British request for convoy protection in the
Mediterranean. She was relieved by armoured
cruiser
'Idzumo' in August

Chikuma joined
the hunt for 'Emden' in the East Indies and
Indian
Ocean in September, and later prepared to move
to the
Pacific in the hunt for von Spee

Yahagi first
joined the hunt for the 'Emden' in the Indian
Ocean.
Then Hirado and Yahagi with
battleship
'Satsuma' sailed as the Second South Sea
Squadron to
search the Philippines, Palau Islands and East
Indies
area, October-November in the von Spee hunt, and
after Coronel moved towards the South Central
Pacific.

Wakamiya and
her aircraft took part in the siege of Tsingtao.
According to Conway, the Farmans reportedly sank
one
German minelayer and damaged shore
installations. If
so this would be the first successful carrier
air
raid in history, but needs confirmation

SHIROTAYE (or
'Shirotae', white in
poetical language), 3rd September 1914, NE
China, off Tsingtau in the Yellow Sea (c
36-00’N, 120-30’E)
- wrecked.
Taking part in
operations against besieged fortress of
Tsingtau;
reportedly in action with German gunboat
"Jaguar" at the time she was wrecked. Some
sources locate her loss in Kiaochow (Kiao Chau)
Bay,
others further offshore in the Yellow Sea

Eight of the 'Kaba'
class, including 'Sakaki' arrived at Malta in
mid-April 1917 for convoy protection duty as the
10th
and 11th Flotillas with cruiser 'Akashi' as
their
flagship

Sakaki,
damaged 11th June 1917, Eastern
Mediterranean off Crete - torpedoed once by
Austrian
'U.27'. On escort
duty, her bows were blown off when many of the
crew
were forward in the mess hall; 68 men killed.
She was
salvaged and repaired

'Minstrel' and
'Nemesis' handed over to Japanese Navy in June
1917
and manned by them for duration of the war in
the
Mediterranean. Renamed 'Sendan' and 'Kanran', to
bring the Japanese total in the Mediterranean to
14
destroyers. Returned at end of war